February 10, 2007 | 6:34 pm

Nessah President Trailblazing For Iranian Jewish Women

Posted by Karmel Melamed

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By Karmel Melamed
11/03/06

Dr. Morgan Hakimi has a variety of roles—psychologist, Jewish activist, wife and full-time mother. But it’s her position as president of the Nessah Educational and Cultural Center in Beverly Hills that has captured the attention of the L.A. Persian Jewish community.

In this Persian Orthodox culture, where leadership is traditionally dominated by men, opposition from many in the community followed Hakimi after she was first elected president in 2004. However, Hakimi’s recent reelection has inspired her to step up her challenge to other women to get involved.

“I have always felt that Nessah could be an incredible bridge for more women to participate in our community, for younger American Jews of Iranian descent to connect with her heritage and for American Jews to become more familiar with us,” she said.

Skepticism from critics in the community has died down since her initiatives have led to a substantial increase in membership within the last two years. People are packing Nessah’s two sanctuaries during Shabbat services, and crowds of previously disenfranchised women—both younger Persian Jews and non-Persian Jews—are participating in greater numbers in center programming Hakimi developed.

She credits outreach to and inclusion of the larger Jewish community for the synagogue’s growth. Hakimi has turned to a more American model of running a synagogue—setting up a membership system, establishing support groups for single parents and adding more events for its younger congregants.

“My greatest asset is having a diverse staff of Iranians, Americans, Hispanics and African Americans that are not afraid to work together,” Hakimi said. “We purposefully chose a new executive director in Michael Sklarewitz and new program director in Robin Federman, who are American, in order to better serve our community and bring us closer to the greater American Jewish community.”

Nessah’s Rabbi David Shofet praised Hakimi’s outreach efforts to younger Iranian Jews and said he has noticed more women at the center since she took office.

“In my eyes, women are more important because they are the mothers of the next generation,” he said. “If they are committed to Judaism and are affiliated, they can hand it on to the next generation. Otherwise there will not be a continuity of Judaism.”

After Hakimi’s election two years ago, participation of women in religious services became a lightning-rod issue for different groups attending services at Nessah. Traditionalists sought to keep women out and more liberated women demanded greater involvement. Hakimi has approached such situations with diplomacy in mind, talking with both sides to find acceptable common ground.

“I am not here to create a revolution. I’m here to bring awareness and understanding about a lot of issues in our community, including those involving women,” Hakimi said. “I was raised in an egalitarian family, so I’m not bitter toward men, and I don’t have an attitude of fighting when I approach the rabbis or men. That’s why they are welcoming of my suggestions to include everyone in our programs.”

Hakimi’s election as president set a precedent at Nessah, which she continues to build on slowly. Eight women now sit on the center’s board of directors, with more women serving in committee and staff positions. At the congregational level, young women are now welcome to celebrate a bat mitzvah by giving a d’var Torah during the daytime Shabbat service.

Nahid Pirnazar, a member of the Los Angeles-based Iranian Jewish Women’s Organization, said that Nessah could stand to have greater inclusion of women in religious services.

“But Dr. Hakimi has certainly helped [us] take a lot of positive steps toward greater participation of women,” she said.

Pirnazar, a UCLA professor of Judeo-Persian history, said Hakimi is the first from her generation to achieve a leadership role in the local Iranian Jewish community, and that she shares good company with Jewish women in Iran who took leadership positions in the early 20th century.

Hakimi is also encouraging young women to develop their own programs at Nessah and to make their voices heard. “Dr. Hakimi has been an incredible mentor in my life in demonstrating to me the unique qualities women in leadership can bring,” said Rona Ram, a 22-year-old Nessah volunteer. “What we, as young females, have noticed is the overriding respect and appreciation the entire congregation gives her as she speaks.”

Hakimi said that when issues of change come up, she anticipates resistance from the older generation in the community. But she says her aim is to slowly press for greater involvement of women in community activities.

“The Iranian Jewish woman has a quiet strength that is only now coming to the surface. I’m here to say they can have it all, but it will take time _ it will not happen overnight, and they must show a desire and commitment to taking part in leadership roles,” Hakimi said.

This article was originally published by the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=16735

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February 10, 2007 | 6:18 pm

L.A.‘s Iranian Jews Working With JBBBSLA

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
12/01/06

A recent gathering at a home in the San Fernando Valley brought together more than 40 Iranian Jews to discuss issues of mentorship. However, this informational meeting wasn’t about matching up Baby Boomers with Gen X-ers to discuss long-term career strategies.

Instead, it was focused on finding adults who would be willing to reach out to young Jews from mostly single-parent homes.

Volunteers from Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles (JBBBSLA) organized the meeting as a special effort to find mentors from within the local Iranian Jewish community. The event, which successfully recruited 12 new mentors, reflects a growing trend among younger Iranian American Jews. As this generation turns its attention to charitable causes, they are increasingly breaking outside of Iranian Jewry’s insular circles to take a more active role within the greater L.A. Jewish community.

“There are many young successful Persian Jews that are eager to help,” said Eman Esmailzadeh a 24-year-old Jewish Big Brother and JBBBSLA liaison to the Iranian Jewish community. “This would offer an avenue for them to give back to the community by giving their time and not just their money.”

Esmailzadeh said he was motivated to connect JBBBSLA with Iranian Jewish groups, such as the Jewish Unity Network and the Hebrew Discovery Center, in order to break the community’s long-running taboo of not seeking help from the larger Jewish community.

“Those that might be reluctant to otherwise ask for help will hopefully do so with the support of community and religious leaders when they realize the importance of having a positive mentor in a child’s life,” he said.

Community activists now collaborating with the JBBBSLA said they welcomed the group’s mentoring program because of the dramatic need for adult role models for many children from Iranian Jewish families.

“We need good mentors because we have a lot of single parents, parents who both work too many hours, and some parents where there is a generation gap and cannot connect with their kids that are Americanized,” said Dara Abaei, head of the Jewish Unity Network.

One young Iranian Jew who has benefited from the JBBBSLA’s program is Eva P., a 17-year-old Los Angeles resident. Her mother died several years ago, her father and siblings live in Israel and she lives with her elderly grandfather. Eva, who asked that her last name be withheld, said her life has been transformed after being paired up with a Jewish female mentor.

“I was very skeptical at first when I started with my Big Sister,” Eva said. “But now I don’t consider her just a part of the program, I consider her my parent, my friend—she is and will always be my everything for the rest of my life.”

Mark Mandell, JBBBSLA’s director of community development, said his organization currently has more than a dozen Big Brothers and Big Sisters as well as Little Brothers and Little Sisters of Iranian Jewish descent. While the group has been working with individual Iranian Jews for many years, he said it has only now been able to effectively reach the Iranian Jewish community because of their mentors who are educating their friends and family about JBBBSLA’s programs.

“We have found that the Iranian Jews that have or are in the process of becoming ‘bigs’ are wonderful caring people that have a genuine desire to positively impact children’s lives,” Mandell said. “They always rise to the action when asked to help with the various agency programs or events.”

Big Brothers who spoke with The Journal said their lives have changed as a result of mentoring and that they were surprised the small amount of time spent with their mentees made such a substantial impact on the children.

“I think that a lot of people are afraid that by mentoring they are going to take on a major commitment, but it’s not as intrusive as they think it is,” said Paul Soroudi, an Iranian Jew who has served as a Big Brother for the last 12 years. “To me it’s very sweet when you see the little things that the kids do to show their appreciation for hanging out with them.”

Mandell said that JBBBSLA is in need of more adult mentors and the organization’s volunteers will continue to reach out to the Iranian Jewish community in order educate those who may not be aware of their program.

“We must first earn the trust and confidence of the community and make families and volunteers comfortable with what we have to offer,” Mandell said.

For more information about joining Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles, call (323) 761-8675 or visit www.jbbbsla.org.

This article was originally published in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=16898

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February 10, 2007 | 6:10 pm

Jennifer Chadorchi: The Hunger to Help

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
01/07/06

At 6:30 p.m. on a chilly Wednesday night in December, more than 30 young Jewish professionals gathered on the corner of Sycamore Avenue and Romaine Street in West Hollywood to feed homeless people waiting in line for a hot meal.

There on behalf of the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition, the volunteers looked with surprise at the growing line of nearly 200 people waiting for food — a sight already familiar to Jennifer Chadorchi, the young Persian Jewish woman who had single-handedly recruited the evening’s volunteers.

“The turnout of volunteers was amazing that night,” said Chadorchi, who regularly organizes volunteer groups for the Coalition. “It makes me feel so great to share the experience of helping others by bringing them in to volunteer.”

For the last eight years, Chadorchi, a Beverly Hills resident in her 20s, has become a rare jewel in the Persian Jewish community, quietly mobilizing a small army of friends, family members and local students to respond to the plight of the homeless in Los Angeles

“Her compassion and her actions are contagious,” said Lida Tabibian, a volunteer recruited by Chadorchi. “She not only changes thousands of lives, but she’s also inspiring a whole generation to be leaders for this cause.”

Chadorchi’s journey in aiding the homeless began when she was 16, when, on a rainy night while driving in her brand-new car, she spotted Coalition volunteers serving food to the homeless.

“What caught my eye was the long line of these people just standing in the pouring rain with only newspapers over their heads,” Chadorchi said. “It didn’t seem fair to me that I had so much and they had nothing, so I decided I had to help.” Since 1987, coalition volunteers have been handing out excess food donated by Los Angeles area hotels, restaurants, grocery stores and caterers. In 2000, the coalition joined forces with UCLA medical students, who offer medical aid to sick, homeless individuals gathering at the street corner.

Chadorchi’s efforts also have included raising funds for the coalition, and she has organized clothing drives in her Beverly Hills neighborhood. She was also instrumental in organizing Project Feed, a campaign allowing Beverly Hills school district students to donate food and time to the coalition in exchange for school credit.

“She has had a tremendous impact on our organization. What she did was build a bridge between our group and Beverly Hills, especially the Iranian Jewish community,” said Ted Landreth, one of the coalition’s founders. “Without her I doubt we could have made these important connections.”

Those familiar with Chadorchi’s volunteer efforts said they wished she would enter the public sector and work with local government officials to help alleviate Los Angeles County’s difficulties with the homeless.

“I’ve known Jennifer since she was a junior at Beverly Hills High School. I think she is one of the most dedicated, incredible and passionate young people out there,” said former U.S. presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. “The people working out there [L.A. city officials] are doing alright, but if she was in charge of the homeless problem in Los Angeles County, I promise you’d see some real changes.”

Chadorchi said she is frequently approached by Jews in the community who question her for helping a non-Jewish cause like the coalition.

“It is our duty as Jews to heal the world one person at a time — tikkun olam,” Chadorchi said. “I’m here to let people out there know that one person can really make a difference.”

Individuals interested in joining Chadorchi’s efforts can contact her at (310) 288-0090.

This article was originally published by the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=15231

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February 10, 2007 | 5:35 pm

Iranian Jews Establish New Downtown L.A. Synagogue

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
07/07/06

With a new Torah in their arms, about 100 local Iranian Jewish businessmen sang Hebrew songs and danced down a busy street in downtown Los Angeles’s garment district June 13 to celebrate the official opening of a new synagogue, where many Iranians have their businesses.

As a DJ blasted Israeli music and kebab dinners were served, congregants packed the elegantly decorated 700-square-foot sanctuary, known as the “Downtown Synagogue,” to give thanks and pray. The synagogue is situated inside a store, alongside fabric outlets, on Cecilia Street, between Eighth and Ninth streets.

“Baruch Hashem, we are very pleased with the new synagogue,” said Avi Cohan, a local Iranian businessman who is one of the founders of the Downtown Synagogue. “It looks just amazing with the nice chairs, and it’s perfect for many of us who wanted a place for prayer at the end of the work day.”

Prior to the festivities, approximately 25 Iranian Jewish business owners gathered at a local textile warehouse, where they each pledged to donate between $260 and $1,500 for each of the last Hebrew letters Cohan was writing to complete the synagogue’s Torah. The Torah was made in Israel for the congregation, and funds still needed to be raised to cover the cost.

Cohan had reason to boast about the new synagogue, whose initial dozen or so congregants first began to assemble in his downtown office to recite Mincha and Arvit prayers nearly 12 years ago. The congregants formed the initial Downtown Synagogue because they were often unable to beat the rush hour traffic to arrive at daily services at synagogues in Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles.

“It’s very convenient for me, because sometimes during the week, I’m in downtown and need a place to pray, so I go there because there is always a minyan, and it’s close by,” said businessman Dara Abaei, an Iranian Jewish community activist.
Cohan and other founders said they wanted to create a place of spirituality and social gathering for Iranian Jewish businessmen after their work hours.

“Our main goal was to little by little get businessmen in our community to close their businesses on Shabbat and bring them closer to God,” said Cohan. “Many are also, unfortunately, too busy during the day to make it to a synagogue to say the Kaddish on the anniversary of their parents’ deaths, so our synagogue provides them with a place to do that.”

Contrary to most synagogues, the Downtown Synagogue is open only on weekdays and closed on Saturdays and High Holidays. Between 50 to 60 people regularly attend weekly services at the synagogue which is adheres to a traditional form of Judaism practiced in Iran for centuries that is a combination of conservative and orthodox. On Tuesdays, congregants also hear a devar Torah by Rabbi Yosef Shem Tov of the Torat Hayim Kohel in Los Angeles.

Although the June ceremony marked the official opening of the synagogue space, Cohan said congregants have unofficially been holding services at the current location for the last two years.

The move to create a formal space for the group began in 2003, when affluent Los Angeles Iranian Jewish businessmen Ezri Namvar and Solomon Rasetgar stepped forward to furnish the rent-free store situated inside a building they co-owned. Namvar and
Rastegar recently sold the building housing the synagogue, but they said the current owner, who is not Jewish, has continued to permit the congregation to stay there without paying rent, Namvar said. The new owner was not available for comment.

Cohan said approximately $15,000 was raised through direct contributions. Unlike Ashkenazi Jews, who generally generate the revenue for synagogues through membership fees, Iranian Jews have traditionally raised such funds by auctioning off aliyot during services or asking individuals for direct donations.

Namvar said his family has always strived to keep Judaism alive in Los Angeles and worldwide by supporting Jewish groups, regardless of their specific denominations.

“Our passion is for Jewish education, and we try to help organizations that promote Jewish education, whether they are Orthodox, Reform or Conservative,” Namvar said.

This article was originally published in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=16107

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February 10, 2007 | 5:05 pm

New Found Freedom For Immigrant Iranian Jewish Artist

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
08/11/06

She has won international art competitions, sold her works around the globe, and even had her pieces displayed in renowned galleries around the world, yet nothing has been more gratifying to Iranian Jewish artist Krista Nassi than experiencing the exhilarating sensations of her new found artistic freedom to produce whatever lies within her imagination since immigrating to the U.S. last year.

Now residing in Los Angeles among the near 30,000 strong Iranian Jewish community, the 30-something Nassi has been busy trying to make a name for herself in the local art realm while continuing to create her unique installation art works which combine various forms of media together.

“From the time I have arrived here I have been passionate about producing works with various themes including the Holocaust which I would have never been able to explore in Iran,” said the 30-something Nassi.

In addition to holding a degree in graphic design from Tehran’s Institute of Graphic Design and Architecture and a Masters Degree in Art from Tehran’s University of Art, Nassi has spent more than 10 years making a name for herself in the art world as a female installations who has shown themes ranging from women’s rights, marriage, and societal issues in her works. She has also accumulated a number of international art competitions, including a Gold Medal at the prestigious 2002 10th Asian Art Biennial competition, from among thousands of artists in Asia.

Despite her tremendous achievements and acclaim, she still encountered anti-Semitism from her colleagues in Iran and was even called “Joohood”, a derogatory Persian word for a Jew.

“In one stance after I won one of my awards a number of people came up to me and said “you are a Joohood girl who thinks she can be something but we’ll stop you from going any further,” said Nassi.

Nassi said her Jewish identity was also a major obstacle for her in Iran since some of her works would not be displayed in many of the state-funded galleries and she was also prevented four times from enrolling in a doctoral art program at a Teheran university.

“When I asked them why they would not allow me to register, they gave me different absurd reasons and I slowly realized it was because I was Jewish,” said Nassi. “Finally one of the assistants at the college told me flat out “Miss, you are from the worst of the minority groups so don’t waste your time trying to register!”

Seeing her creative energies stifled and no future for her career, Nassi left Iran and literally started with a white canvas in the Los Angeles art scene. She has been creating more of her installation pieces with themes closest to her heart that she had never been able to explore in the past.

“From the time the Iranian President made those comments about the Holocaust I can’t understand how he could allow himself to make such ridiculous comments,” said Nassi. “His words were really bone chilling and they loose their effect in the translation. Since I understand them and because I’ve seen the crematoria in Austria and Germany, it has been my goal as an Iranian Jew to depict the theme of the Holocaust in my work”.

Noticing her talent and ambitions, some local Iranian Jewish organizations have warmly welcomed Nassi and embraced her unique art work.

“She’s intelligent, passionate about her work and very talented,” said Dariush Fakheri, founder of the Eretz-SIAMAK Cultural Center in Tarzana, California. “We would welcome her and have in the past welcomed talented artists and writers from our community to share their works at our center”.

Krista Nassi’s past artwork can be found at www.kristanassi.com

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February 10, 2007 | 11:49 am

Iran’s Jewish Legislator Criticized During L.A. Appearance

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
12/15/06

Local Iranian Jewish activists in Southern California criticized the December 4th town hall speaking event at the Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) synagogue in West Hollywood that welcomed Maurice Motamed, the current and only Jewish representative to Iran’s parliament.

The invitation extended to Motamed to give an update about the current status of Iran’s Jewry, sparked sharp criticism from the Council of Iranian Jews, a small L.A.-based Iranian Jewish group whose leadership said welcoming Motamed, a member of Iran’s current regime, was inappropriate because it provided a forum for Iran’s regime to spread its propaganda.

“Our community members clearly know he (Motamed) is acting on the orders of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said George Haroonian, an local activist with the Council of Iranian Jews. “He represents a regime that every day calls for the destruction of Israel, denies the Holocaust as a state policy, and is the biggest financial and practical support of groups whose main goal is the murder of Jewish people”.

While not naming names, Motamed dismissed the claims of those who opposed his presence at the IAJF synagogue and said his opponents were only trying to attack his character in order to advance their own personal agendas.

“Unfortunately those who say these things approached me three years ago and wanted information about the internal affairs of Iran and since I have not given it to them they have a personal opposition and vengeance against me,” said Motamed.

With nearly 150 mostly older Iranian Jews present, the overall tone set by IAJF board members speaking at the event was one of appreciation and affinity for Iran.

Motamed painted a positive picture about the lives of Jews still living in Iran, claiming they were by in large financially well off, enjoyed religious freedoms free from harassment, and even set to build a new Jewish community center in Teheran on a land recently purchased for $5 million.

Surprisingly, aside from four IAJF board members and a brief appearance by Nessah Cultural Center’s Rabbi David Shofet, no other prominent local Iranian Jewish leaders were present at the IAJF event.

Frank Nikbakht, an Iranian Jewish activist and local expert on the treatment of minorities in Iran, said Motamed’s statements about Jewish life in Iran lack credibility.

“Motamed has himself said during his previous trips to the U.S. that he would say anything and lie for the safety of the Jews in Iran,” said Nikbakht. “He has officially sworn to uphold the interests of Islam and the Islamic Republic upon entering the Islamic Assembly as the Jewish representative, as required by the government’s constitution”.

Nikbakht also questioned Motamed’s allegiances because of a 24-page Persian language report authored and distributed by Motamed at an event held at the Nessah Cultural Center during his 2002 visit to Los Angeles. According to the report, Motamed outlines his activities as a member of the Energy Committee in the Iranian Parliament and his travels to Russia where he urged Russian companies and officials to complete the Iran’s nuclear reactor at the Bushehr location.

IAJF leaders said they were disturbed by the criticism for Motamed coming from community activists who they said did not understand Motamed’s difficulty in trying to protect the interests of Jews living under Iran’s fundamentalist regime.

“He (Motamed) is in a very sensitive position and is walking a tight rope in trying to keep our community there safe and sound,” said Solomon Rastegar, vice-chair of the IAJF. “There are people here in Los Angeles with insufficient knowledge about life in Iran who try to attack him so they can gain credible for themselves”.

Some local Iranian Jewish activists have been had odds with IAJF leaders who have long advocated keeping criticism of Teheran’s regime to a minimum for fear of retributions that might be brought against the roughly 20,000 Jews still living in Iran.

During the question and answer segment of the event, Motamed again defended his record as a Jewish advocate saying he had spoken out against comments made earlier this year by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who denied the existence of the Holocaust. Motamed also said he has been trying to resolve the case of 12 missing Iranian Jews who tried to flee Iran nearly 12 years ago.

In January, Parviz Yeshaya, the former national chairman of the Jewish Council in Iran also issued a rare public statement questioning the logic of Ahmadinejad’s statements regarding the Holocaust.

Motamed was slated to speak at an October 10th seminar on the future security of Jews living in Iran hosted at the Museum of Tolerance by Los Angeles chapter of Iranian Jewish Women’s Organization (IJWO), but cancelled his appearance last minute citing scheduling difficulties.

Motamed denied accusations that he had been disinvited to the IJWO event and said he had the full support and confidence of the Iranian Jews worldwide.

“What is important to me is that I feel the support of the 20,000 Jews in Iran and the Iranian Jewish community outside Iran,” said Motamed. “Therefore everything else that is said is unimportant to me”.

Karmel Melamed is an internationally published freelance journalist based in Southern California.

Portions of this article were published in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=16965

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February 10, 2007 | 11:33 am

Iranian Jews Sue Former Iranian President Khatami

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
9/22/06

In a rare display of unity, a variety of groups within the local Persian Jewish community have joined to voice support for a lawsuit filed against former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Sept. 9 by seven Persian Jewish families in Los Angeles and Israel. The suit holds Khatami responsible for the arrests and disappearance of their loved ones more than 10 years ago.

Filed in New York District Court under special U.S. laws that permit non-U.S. citizens to sue their oppressors in U.S. courts, the suit alleges that Khatami authorized the arrest and indefinite imprisonment of Persian Jews during his administration. It states that between 1994 and 1997, 12 Persian Jews were arrested by the Iranian secret police while attempting to flee from southwestern Iran into Pakistan. They have not been heard from since.

The most surprising show of public support for the victims’ families suit came from the L.A.-based Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF), an umbrella organization for more than a dozen local Persian Jewish groups. For the past 12 years, IAJF representatives have pursued quiet diplomacy with various governments and human rights groups to help free the 12 missing Iranian Jews, avoiding creating a public campaign.

A statement released by the IAJF voiced support for the suit: “Our entire community is united in demanding the immediate release of these individuals and will support any legal and moral course of action that their families may choose to pursue.”

Activists in the Persian Jewish community long have been at odds with the IAJF and other local Persian Jewish leaders who have advocated minimizing criticism of Teheran’s regime out of fear of retributions against the roughly 20,000 Jews still living in Iran.

Some local Persian Jewish leaders applauded the suit as a step to dispel the image of Khatami in the West as a moderate leader.

Khatami “is a representative of an evil regime,” said Dariush Fakheri, co-founder of the Eretz-SIAMAK Cultural Center in Tarzana. “During his tenure, more newspapers were forced to shut down, and more opposition leaders were assassinated abroad than before.”

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an attorney for the victims’ families in Israel, said the suit targets Khatami personally, and they expect to be able to collect on any judgment the court might renders in their favor because of Terror Risk Insurance Act from 2002 that permits U.S. terror victims to be paid with frozen assets of terror sponsoring states.

“As such he’ll probably default the case and try to ignore it,” Darshan-Leitner said. “But slowly he’ll begin to understand that these types of cases have a very long shelf life, and they cannot be ignored.”

Darshan-Leitner said she is also involved in a case pending in Chicago against the Iranian government that for the first time has forced the regime to hire its own American attorneys and litigate its rights in a U.S. court. Likewise in December 2005, she was involved in an effort to attach Italian bank accounts with more than $600 million belonging to the National Oil Company of Iran.

“The Islamic Republic was trying to ignore the legal proceedings in Chicago and in Rome. Now they aren’t laughing so loud,” Darhsan-Leitner said. “Khatami might be able to hide in Iran and the Third World, but Mr. Moderate Reformer is going to have a hard time traveling and owning assets in civilized western nations that recognize U.S. court judgments.”

Attorneys for the victim’s families said they waited until Khatami was physically in the United States to file the suit, so they could serve him with the necessary documents during his recent speaking tour. According to federal laws, Khatami has 20 days to file a response.

Local Iranian Jews say it’s time finally to speak out.

“Sometimes you have to use diplomacy,” said Frank Nikbakht, a Los Angeles activist who has worked on the case of the missing 12 for the last six years. “But for this case, because the Iranian government has been lying to the prisoners’ families for so many years and promising to release them, we believe the time has long passed for silent diplomacy, and we have to use all sorts of public pressure on the Iranian government.”

In 2000, with the assistance of various American Jewish groups, the local Iranian Jewish community was able to publicize the case of 13 Iranian Jews from the city of Shiraz who were imprisoned in 1999 on fabricated charges of spying for Israel. Ultimately the international exposure put pressure on the Iranian regime, and the “Shiraz 13” were eventually released.

Nikbakht said he and other activists attempted to bring the case of the other 12 missing Iranian Jews to public light in 2000, but were blocked from doing so by the American Jewish leadership.

“We wanted to bring out this case of these 12 prisoners, along with the case of the Shiraz prisoners, but many American Jewish organizations strongly disapproved of this approach, so we couldn’t go ahead with it,” Nikbakht said. “We thought that once we had the attention of the world we should have linked these two issues and solved them together.”

According to a 2004 report prepared by Nikbakht, the Jewish community in Iran lives in constant fear for its security amid threats from terrorist Islamic factions. Since 1979, at least 14 Jews have been murdered or assassinated by the regime’s agents, at least two Jews died while in custody and 11 Jews have been officially executed by the regime. In 1999, Feizollah Mekhoubad, a 78-year-old cantor of the popular Yousefabad synagogue in Tehran, was the last Jew to be officially executed by the regime, according to the report.

Representatives at the Iranian Mission to the United Nations did not return calls for comment.

Karmel Melamed is an internationally published freelance journalist based in Southern California.

This article was originally published in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=16515

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February 10, 2007 | 11:15 am

Mediator Making Peace Between Iranian Jews

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
12/29/06

With Los Angeles County being named among one of the most litigious areas in the country by the American Bar Association for the past several years and lawsuits being more commonplace nowadays, its not often you find anyone willing to help parties revolve their problems outside a courtroom. Yet local mediator Yoram Hassid has become the exception to the rule after his many years of voluntarily working to settle disputes arising in the Iranian Jewish community.

For the last 20 years, Hassid, a 60-something financially successful general contractor, has been quietly helping scores of local Jews and in particular Iranian Jews to settle everything from their multi-million dollar real estate suits to their challenging family conflicts.

“I’m not a storyteller, I’m only here to help solve people’s problems,” replies a humble Hassid when asked how many people he has aided or how much money he has had his clients donate to international Jewish charities in lieu of receiving fees for his services.

While Hassid has helped the local Jewish community with their disputes on his own over years, he had also served as a mediator in the Iranian Jewish Federation’s committee that helped local Iranian Jews resolve their business troubles without having to go court or pay legal fees.

After the death the committee’s chairman Eliyahu Ghodsian, Hassid and other committee volunteers more recently formed the “Arbitration and Mediation Committee” an independent mediation group based in Beverly Hills.

“I initially brought in Mr. Hassid into the Federation’s mediation committee because he knew a lot about the business of real estate,” said Ebrahim Yahid, a volunteer for the Arbitration and Mediation Committee. “Through the years he’s helped many many people and there are even some parties coming in from Washington D.C. just to meet Mr. Hassid for help because of his reputation in successfully resolving disputes”.

Hassid said that he primarily handles cases where there may have been misunderstandings between the parties rather than intentional fraud because when fraud is involved one of the parties are most likely unwilling to attend mediation secessions.

“I would say that I’ve had success in resolving 80-percent of the cases that have come to me where I was able to convince both parties to accept a mutual settlement,” said Hassid.

But Hassid refuses to take all the credit for his successes and said local rabbis, community leaders, and even attorneys have been instrumental in referring cases to him and providing their support during mediation secessions.

Due to reasons of client confidentiality Hassid said he was not able to disclose the specifics of any of his previous cases, but in the past he has handled disputes involving properties valued at more than $40 million as well as inheritance quarrels over estates valued in the millions.

Those who have benefited from Hassid’s efforts said they were surprised at his tremendous patience, even-handedness, and understanding of the Iranian business norms of bargaining.

“He knows the ‘bazaar mentality’ from Iran and is able to speak with people with that in mind,” said Noah P., an L.A. area real estate broker and former Hassid client. “Getting the money was not important to me, but I will forever be grateful to him because of the fact that he voluntarily came forward to help me and spent a substantial amount of time on my case when others were not able to do so”.

Noah P., who asked that his name be withheld for fear of loosing future business, said he originally came to Hassid for assistance in retrieving a substantial amount of unpaid commissions owed to him from his Iranian Jewish clients who had received his brokering services. Ultimately Hassid was only able to recover a fraction of what Noah P. was entitled to had he filed suit in court.

“I could have sued but I didn’t want to take the path of hurting another person,” said Noah P. “Don’t get me wrong there are many good Iranian Jews but there are some in the community that are unfortunately very materialistic and don’t care who they crush”.

Other clients said Hassid takes a very simple and non-legal approach in conveying a message to his clients that a prolonged legal battle would not beneficial to either side.

“He says forget the legal stuff and asks ‘is it worth it?’” said Henry J., a current Hassid client who asked that his name be withheld because his case has not yet been settled. “Mr. Hassid asks you if it’s worth loosing your sanity, your health, and money to the lawyers because in the end even if you get what you want in court you may end up the real looser”.

Many of Hassid’s clients said they were at ease with him handling their disputes because unlike many attorneys, he had no ulterior financial or ego-related motives in prolonging their cases.

In addition, Iranian Jewish leaders said the community has tremendously benefited from Hassid’s efforts not only because of the funds he has generated for worthy causes, but because his non-confrontational style and fair decisions have kept many families together.

“Mr. Hassid has been very instrumental in resolving several tough cases which others have not been able to conclude,” said Rabbi David Shofet, of the Nessah Cultural Center in Beverly Hills. “His activities are a blessing for many who might otherwise land in the court system and we are grateful for his help”.

The American litigation process is a unique concept to Iranian Jews whom for centuries in Iran had traditionally resolved their business disputes peaceably with the aid of elders in their communities. In Iran, their cases were heard by their leaders and all parties were persuaded to find a fair compromise, since often times Jews did not have access to the country’s Muslim dominated courts, said Yahid.

While Hassid has never had any formal legal education, four of his six children are coincidentally attorneys and they said he has a special gift for spotting between right and wrong when cases come to him for review.

“The first thing he has is an incredible ability to go inside the heads of both the parties and understand their perspectives, this is not a gift that everyone has,” said Hassid’s daughter Yifat, a Century City attorney. “He also has an uncanny ability to skip through all the great nonsense and force the parties to get to the heart of matter with the goal of finding a solution”.

Hassid said he will continue his mediation work for as long as possible because of the gratification he receives after giving closure to his clients who may have otherwise suffered through nasty court battles.

Karmel Melamed is an internationally published freelance journalist based in Southern California.

Portions of this article were published in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=17028

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